Wade Borden came back to the team because he felt he had to redeem himself.

None of the trio of seniors was on Rick Avila's mind when the veteran baseball coach unveiled initial plans for what was supposed to be a major rebuilding season. The 2012 GNB Voc-Tech team that finished last season two games under .500 (9-11) had been gutted by graduation and with only two veteran seniors returning, Avila really didn't know what to expect from this year's model.

He was hoping to be somewhat competitive in what has predictably been a highly-competitive South Coast Conference. But Avila was also realistic. With a pitching staff void of an ace and dominated by underclassmen with limited or no varsity experience, predicting more than five wins probably was a stretch. Besides, Avila's everyday lineup included his only two returning veterans surrounded by untested first-year varsity players.

But, that was before Mena, Genereux and Borden decided to play.

Six games in, none of the three had been a so-called savior. Collectively, however, the trio has become part of what has developed into the feel-good story of the high school baseball season.

Just seven games into what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, Avila's "No-Name Bears" were sitting atop the SCC standings with a record of 6-1.

"It's been a total team effort," Avila said, prior to Wednesday's scheduled conference showdown battle against an equally-surprising Old Rochester team. The only blemish in Voc-Tech's first six outings was a 1-0 loss to pre-season conference favorite Dighton-Rehoboth. "Every game, it seems like a different player steps up," Avila said. Including the aforementioned trio of Mena, Genereux and Borden.

"I'm playing because of those guys," Mena said, nodding to his teammates who were celebrating Monday's 8-4 win over Wareham. The former basketball and football standout hadn't played high school baseball since his freshman year, but decided to return to the diamond in his senior season.

So far, he's been a gem.

"Some of these guys are my classmates," Mena said. "They asked me to play and I thought that might be a pretty good idea. I knew this was going to be a pretty inexperienced team and I thought, maybe, I could help them." Mena was the starting right fielder in Monday's game and, so far, has been a defensive stalwart and pesky hitter at the bottom of the order.

Like Mena, Genereux hadn't played baseball since his freshman year, but decided to return to honor the memory of his close friend, Andrew McCann, who was killed in an automobile accident in 2012. The big righthander is listed as an outfielder, but his biggest contributions have come as a pitcher, where he has helped win or save a couple of key games. "I thought it would be a nice way to keep his memory alive," Genereux said. "We all knew and still remember Andrew and everytime we play, we're playing for him."

Borden last played as a sophomore. He would have played last season, but was academically ineligible. "I feel like I let both myself and my teammates down last year and, this year, I felt I had to redeem myself," he said. The speedy senior played center field and hit fourth in the lineup on Monday, driving in the Bears' first run with an infield groundout in the first inning.

"The biggest thing about this team is that we're all having fun," Mena said. "It's like we have a different lineup every game and whether we're in the lineup or on the bench, we all feel like we're a part of the team."

Avila plays as many people as possible over the course of a game and continues to experiment with his pitching staff.

"He's given a lot of us a shot at pitching so we pretty much have to be ready every game," Genereux said. "Just because you're not in the starting lineup doesn't mean you're not going to play. I go to every game expecting I might play."

And Avila obliges whenever possible.

"I'm not afraid to throw any of these guys into the action because I know how much they want to play," he said. "We're a young team and we're going to make some mistakes. But playing hard can make up for a lot of those young mistakes and these guys have been playing hard. Our two leaders are the only two veterans we have. Kurt Dreher is our second baseman and Cody Hinchliffe is our shortstop and both have played very well. But other guys like Marcus (Silva), Nick Richard, Nick Oliveira, Joel (DeFreitas), Raheem (Gomes) and everyone else have all made contributions."

And, like the trio of Trevor Mena, Eric Genereux and Wade Borden, these "No-Name Bears" are also having fun.